Male Models Wanted
by Sam Le Faie
Summary: With only days till her deadline, Lucy has never been more frustrated till a good-minded friend foists a male onto her for an evening. So now she's stuck with an aggravating man who does nothing but vex her, until he offers to help with her work. So what's a blonde supposed to do but accept his offer and... use his body? !
1. The Intruder

The Intruder

"Lucy, are you listening?"

"…Yup."

"Good. So I was telling her, why not try to…"

Lucy Heartfilia wrinkled her brow as she stared at the drawing she had just finished. A sketched out figure of a male's anatomy stared out back at her. As the voice continued to chatter excitedly on in her ear piece, the blonde's brows suddenly shot down and she gritted her teeth. Ripping the page from her sketchbook, she crushed it and lobbed the misshapen ball into the wastebasket, where it bounced on a pile of similar paper balls before rolling into a ditch in the corner.

Damn it. Again.

Her pencil dashed back and forth across the surface of a new page and within seconds, she had a new face staring out at her, followed by a torso, limbs and finally hands and feet. Just as she closed the circuit of pencil lines around the left foot, she tensed and her pencil tip broke against the white sheet, leaving a stain of graphite and black smudge around the toes.

"Shit."

Crush. Lob. Score. And repeat. That was how her entire morning had flown by in a flurry and before she knew it, she had missed lunch time. As if to make matters worse, just as she had scored her thirty odd paper ball her phone had rung. That had been a half hour ago and her conversation partner did not give any sign as to stopping soon.

On any other day, Mirajane Strauss would be someone she would have loved to spend an entire day with but with her deadline drawing near, this could not have been a worse time.

Over the last twenty minutes or so, she had dropped increasingly unsubtle hints about how busy she was but the silver haired beauty had seemingly missed every one of them. Or flat out ignored them. Either way, Lucy was ready to tear her hair out again. Already there were a few blonde strands wedged in amongst the paper balls from where somewhere around paper ball number 15 to 20.

In any case, Lucy turned back to her work desk to start a new drawing when she noticed that her sketchpad had officially run out of pages. Giving an unladylike grunt, she dumped the leftover book skeleton into the bin with so much force that the entire bin toppled over and its contents rolled out in all directions, scattering the floor of her office.

"Gaaah!"

"And he said… Lucy? Is everything alright?" Mirajane's worried voice echoed over her Bluetooth earpiece.

The blonde wanted to scream and rip the infernal device from her ear and trash it with the rest of the waste but she forced herself to reign in her fury.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I just dropped something." Lucy gave herself a mental congratulation for having been able to affect such a calm voice. Mirajane was no fool though.

"Deadline?"

"… Yup."

"Sorry for taking up so much of your time then. I'll hang up so that you can concentrate."

Lucy restrained from letting out a loud sigh of relief, even though it reverberated in every cell of her body. "Thank you, Mira. I'll talk to y-"

"Oh, one more thing."

The blonde forced out a "What is it?" through gritted teeth.

"Y'now the guy I was telling you about just now? Lisanna's best friend?"

Lucy quickly searched her mental inventory for any mention of such a male only to come up short. Her mind had been busy with more important things while her friend had been rambling on after all.

"Y-yeah. I remember." She faked a giggle. "He sounds like a really great guy."

"Great then! I'll go ahead and book the date then." Mirajane enthused, giggling excitedly.

Lucy blinked and pressed the earpiece harder against her ear. "D-date? Sorry… what?"

"Is the…14th ok for you, Lucy? Two days from now."

"Hold on, let me check…" Lucy picked up her phone and quickly scanned her calendar. "Yeah, I'm good and… wait, what am I doing?" She dropped her phone and rubbed her temple. "Mira, what are you talking about?"

"Lunch, of course. Or would you prefer dinner?"

"I don't mean that-"

"Oh wait…" Mirajane's voice trailed off for a moment before returning with renewed enthusiasm. "Sorry, it would have to be dinner. I'm hoping you're good with dinner?"

"Wait, I-"

"Oh, never mind. I know that you'll be free for this right, Lu-cy?"

"Uh…"

"Fantastic! See you then, Lucy! I'll text you the details closer to the date!"

"Mira-!"

Lucy's expression froze when she realized that her companion had already hung up and the only thing still in her ear was a continuous beeping sound. Sighing, the blonde plucked the headset from her ear and flicked off the power switch.

"Whirlwind Mira" was how her friend was usually referred to within their mutual circle of people, and while Lucy had long gotten used to it, it could be really frustrating sometimes.

"Argh… forget it. I'll call her again later to cancel whatever she's preparing for me." She flung the headset onto a nearby couch and settled back at her desk, ready to tackle the dragon again.

* * *

It was in the late afternoon of the 14th that Lucy snapped awake with a start when the snooze alarm blared by her bedside. Grabbing the small clock, she gasped when she realized that she had hit the snooze button one too many times. The hour hand sitting snugly between the 5 and 6 digits taunted her as the seconds hand continued to tick inexorably on.

"Shit shit shit! I hadn't meant to nap for so long!"

Flinging the clock to one side she was out of bed, out of her clothes and in the shower where she rushed through every step of the menial task that was called taking a bath. The next few minutes after that saw her stepping out in worn gym shorts and a faded tank top that had been stretched too loose from too many rewashes. Putting together a messy sandwich of layers of lettuce, ham and too much sauce, the blonde cursed when the sauce oozed out of a corner when she picked up the distorted slices of bread. A glob of brown made the corner of her tank top its new home as it sluiced a dirty path down her waist.

"Damn."

Dropping her sandwich, she splashed water on the cloth and rubbed the stain out, managing to get all out except for what looked to be a new resident on her top.

"Oh fuck this."

Without bothering to change, the blonde stuffed the rest of the sandwich into her mouth and hurried into her office where she let out another explosive expletive when she realized that she had left the windows open before she succumbed to the overwhelming desire for a nap, and loose sheets of sketch paper had strewn themselves all over the floor and couch. Her portfolio had also blown open, and her finished works had also decided to tuck themselves within discarded sheets of failed designs, making this room one hell of a messy one. Groaning and grunting, the disheveled blonde was about to get to work when another accursed noise rang out.

The doorbell.

"What the hell now…"

Cursing invectives under her breath the entire way to the door, Lucy threw open the door with vehemence, ready to bite the head off whoever had dared to interrupt her precious few hours of post-rest energy.

The man standing on her doorstep was not someone she recognized or was expecting.

Tall, lean and handsome, he was dressed in a suede brown jacket that looked specially tailored for him over a navy shirt. His jeans were many shades of blue and highlighted the fit forms and length of his legs. Lucy arched a brow at the scarf. Wasn't it warm enough in summer? As her eyes rose to meet those of the stranger's, she had to choke back an unladylike snort at the colour of his hair, which was dyed a shocking shade of pink. The skeptical expression the stranger was wearing on his face told her that she was bluffing no one, and Lucy gave a self-conscious cough as she continued to eye his hair. That had to be natural, she thought, no straight, masculine-hearted male would willingly colour his hair in that shade.

By the time she realized that she had been staring, the male was already raising his brow at her.

"Lucy Heartfilia?"

"Uh… yes…?"

He extended a handshake to her, cringing a little as he eyed her state of dress, possibly wondering if her hand was as dirty as her clothing. "Uh… Natsu Dragneel. Hello."

"Draguniro?"

"Neel. It's Drag_neel_."

While her pronunciation had been a genuine accident, Lucy could not help but be the tiniest bit amused when she saw his cheek muscle jump as he corrected her.

"I see. So, Mr. Draguniro."

_Muscle jump._

"What brings you to my humble home? Please keep it concise. I'm _busy_." She arched a brow and propped a hand up onto her waist, hoping that he would take her very big hint and skedaddle off.

"Mirajane told me that she had arranged a dinner date for us, so here I am." He shrugged.

"Of course, Mira did… Wait, what?" Lucy's hand slipped from her.

The man before her scratched his head awkwardly as he grumbled something out of the corner of his mouth. He was either feeling as frustrated and confused as she was right now or thinking that speaking to her was somewhat of condescension on his part. Lucy figured it was both, given the way he was sort of leaning backwards now as though she was giving off some sort of rank stench.

He folded his arms and sighed. "I wouldn't even be here had it not been for the bet I lost drinking against her brother. So as punishment, she told me that she would be setting me up with one of her friends and…"

He eyed her up and down with a critical look. Lucy instantly felt a little self-conscious when she realized how little her clothing covered, especially since they were old and worn thin. Giving an indignant huff, she folded her own arms over her breasts, willing him to stop staring.

With a decided snort, he continued. "Apparently… you're it… I think. I'm sorry, I thought your friend told me I'd be meeting with a woman, not something that just crawled out of a cave of filth."

Lucy barely managed to stop herself from hitting him and forced herself to take a composing inhalation of air.

"Well, I'm not sure what exactly Mirajane told me over the phone since I couldn't be bothered to listen. She was probably trying to set me up with yet another _problem child."_

"You-!"

"But I don't remember hearing anything about someone who smelled like he drowned himself in cologne. Overcompensation for something, I think?" She tapped her bottom lip thoughtfully as she watched the male seethe where he stood.

Giving herself a mental triumphant grin, she took a step back into the house and moved to close the door. She made a shooing action with her free hand.

"Well now. Since it's obvious we don't get along, I think you can just run on home now. I'm think your diaper needs changing. Goodbye, Mr. Draguniro." And good riddance.

The blonde spun away as she pushed the door shut, only to gasp when there was a sudden slamming sound. Given that her door closing was her favourite sound in the world, especially when it was slamming on people not unlike the pink haired intruder, she would have recognized it with her eyes closed. This sound was something different. Whirling around, her brows shot down when she realized that the stranger was now standing inside her house, his right arm propping her door wide open as he glared at her.

"Get out." She snapped.

"No." He shut the door behind him and walked towards her with a distinct stalking-like style.

"Get out before I hit you. You have no right to intrude on my house like that."

The male arched a brow as he eyed her slim arm with an arrogant look. "Hit me?"

"With something." She shot back as she looked quickly around for something violent and painful looking.

The book on the shoe cabinet was too light while the vase next to it looked too heavy to even lift. The metal spanner on the floor looked too dangerous; she wanted to scare him off not leave a bloody dent into his head. Wait… why did she even have a spanner lying around like that? Aha! Perfect. Lucy grabbed a stray stiletto forgotten behind the cabinet and brandished the heel at him. Four whole inches of stabbing doom. Affecting what she hoped was a threatening look, she glared at him again.

Natsu Dragneel eyed the red shoe skeptically and paused in his advance towards the belligerent blonde. While the tiny piece of footwear didn't look like it could pose much harm, the stiletto itself was a cause for concern. He knew that from past experience. He raised his arms and gave a very convincing defeated sigh.

"Ahhh. Whatever. I can't be bothered anymore."

As expected, the blonde now looked surprised.

Turning sideways from her and folding his arms, he gave her a mocking look. "_Please_. Did you really think I was going to do anything to someone li- to you?"

"What…?"

"Jeez."

Lucy startled when the male suddenly leaned forward and snatched the shoe from her hand. He flung it a safe distance away from her. "What the hell- Excuse me, Mr. Draguniro!"

"Oh shut up. Mirajane told me that I had to hang out with you for at least 3 hours before she would give me my house and car keys back. Like it or not, I'm going to be here till… 10pm."

"What! Wait, no… what?!"

"Where's your kitchen? I'm starving! Do you have any food to eat?"

To her outrage, the pink haired male strode casually past her and turned into her living room, his moccasins leaving dusty prints all over her floorboards.

"Mira… what?! Shit… w-wait! Dragnuniro! GET BACK HERE!"

* * *

Yikes… supposed to be a one shot… looks like this is going to be a multiple chapter fic. Bad habits die hard.

Faie =.=


	2. The Perfect Man

I am… going to try my best to keep the chapters of this fic short without my usual narrative prose and drabble… Going to try…. Really hard… Uwaugh.

Faie.

* * *

The Perfect Man

"Why don't you have any food around this place?"

"…"

"Chicken…? Pork…? Beef…? I'm OK with lamb too."

"…"

"Oi…" _Poke poke_. "Blondie…"

"Go away. I'm busy."

"Gimme your address. I'll order in pizza."

"You have my address. Do it yourself."

"No, I don't. Why would I want the address of an ice queen like you?"

"Bastard… You came to my godamn house. Of course you have my address."

"Ehhh. Elfman dropped me off then took off in my car, that asshole. So what's the address?"

"Go find that out yourself. Scram."

"Chh, boring. Hey, I saw breadcrumbs on the kitchen table. You were making a sandwich?"

"None of your business."

"I want one too. Can I have one?"

"No, now go away."

"I'm your guest. Isn't it only polite for you to make a sandwich?"

"…"

"Oi, blondie…" _Poke poke_.

"…" _Muscle twitch_.

"Didn't your parents teach you that it's common manner to serve a guest snack when they're visiting? Jeez, what are you, a cavewoman?"

Lucy Heartfilia leaped from her seat, her hands slamming onto the table with such vehemence that her pencil snapped against the surface of her sketchpad, rendering a black smudge over the male figure's arm.

"What are you, an idiot?!" Pushing away from her table and stalking towards the male who continued to lean nonchalantly against the door, she jabbed the broken end of the pencil into his chest.

"You were the one who barged into my house without an invitation! You didn't even remove your shoes when you walked in. Now there are stains all over my carpet and you still dare to lecture me about house manners?! Get the hell out of my house, Draguniro, before I stab you with this pencil."

The pink haired male stood there, his expression bland as he scratched the nape of his neck.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" The blonde fumed as she pushed the pencil harder against him.

"Uh… I can…"

"You can what?" Lucy snapped.

Natsu turned his head to the side, a tiny blush of pink tinting his tan cheeks as he pressed the side of his hand against his temple, partially obscuring the view of his face.

"I can see everything…"

"See what now…?"

"Uh… Your shirt."

"My sh- Shitfire!"

Lucy leaped back, her arms folded tightly over her chest as she glared at him, her own cheeks flushed red. In her astonishment over this very sudden and distractingly vexing male, she had forgotten to put on her bra or change her top. The already thin cotton of her tank top had been washed and stretched so many times, they hardly concealed anything. That plus the fact that she had bought this piece when she had been less buxom, and the rapid growth of her chest had resulted in a very revealing view of the top of her cleavage.

"You really should put on some underwear, blondie. Or at least put on a jacket or something."

"Wh- You-! G-get out!"

The male sighed and shook his head. "Told you, I can't. That bitch Mira warned that she has people monitoring your house right now. If I leave earlier than 10, she'll double the bet consequences."

"I meant get out the way, you asshole! I need to change!"

"Oh. Yeah, sure…. Flasher."

"Gaaaaaahhhh!"

Lucy barged past the vexing male and stomped towards her bedroom, making sure to slam the room door extra hard behind her. Ripping the tank top from her body and flinging the tattered piece of clothing into the wastebasket, she tore a baggy T-shirt from a clothes hanger and threw it on hurriedly, pausing when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Great, now the large shirt obscured every inch of her gym shorts. If that idiot saw her dressed like this, he was going to make another snide comment again about her sexual deviances. She changed her gym shorts for a pair of long pajama bottoms, giving her an overall look of a female house geek with a… was… was that a Cheeto in her hair? The blonde plucked the snack and stared at it for a while before popping it into her mouth. The chip was soft and missing its crunchiness.

"Yuck."

(A/n: I translated 宅女 to house geek to the best of my knowledge, but there is always stuff lost in translation…)

"Hmph. Now you'll have nothing to complain about." She gave a self-satisfied huff as she strode proudly on back to her office only to come to a screeching halt when she saw him squatting down on the floor, pieces of her draft drawings in his hands as he scanned through each piece quickly.

Lucy stalked over and snatched the papers from his hands. "What the hell are you doing?! It's rude to look through other people's things!"

Natsu turned his head to look up at her, snorting when he saw how she was now dressed, the sound of which elicited an infuriated gasp from the blonde.

"Are you an artist?"

Lucy glared at him for a few seconds before turning away to settle back down at her desk, tucking the loose sheets of paper in her arms into a folder.

"Yes. I am. And I'm busy, so I would much app-"

"Cool!"

"Huh?"

The blonde turned to see the male now picking up more loose papers on the floor and unfurling them from their crushed ball shapes.

"Hey! Those are my failed drafts! St-stop!"

"Failed?" The pink haired male turned to look at her, a perplexed expression on his face as he fanned the papers out in his hand. "Why would you call these failed drafts? They're pretty good."

Lucy blinked in surprise. "Really, you think they're good?"

"Yeah. I could never draw as well as you." Natsu grinned, his eyes squeezing shut as he revealed a set of perfect teeth with pointier that average canines. To her mortification, Lucy throat went dry for a moment before she hurriedly took a swallow.

"Well, I wouldn't expect so. I did graduate from a prestigious arts school." She folded her arms, all of sudden feeling a little self-conscious.

"Yeah. It's cool how this female" The male gestured with a finger on the paper, "is able to defeat the much larger male over here with a single punch. Although the male's face here looks a bit soft and sissy-like. Could you draw one where the male doesn't look so wimpy?"

"Punch?" Lucy's brows drew together as she sat down on the floor next to the male and took the crumpled sheet from his hand. "Uh… that's not a punch."

"It's not?"

"No. Look there, there's the male's other hand around her wrist, just below her sleeve. He's holding her hand up to his lips to kiss her knuckles and… wh-what?"

Natsu was now looking at her with his own scrunched up expression and both corners of his mouth titled downwards in what looked like disgust. "He's doing what?"

"What do you want now?" Lucy re-crushed the sheet and flung it into a corner. "What's with that face?"

"Nothing. Jeez, I thought you were drawing a fight scene. Is this what you do then? Draw sissy men kissing girls' hands?"

"Don't be rude. I'm an artist for adult romance novel covers." The blonde snatched the rest of the papers from him and re-crushed those too. "It's my job to draw sappy love scenes of dashing, muscular men with a beautiful heroine in his embrace or whatnot."

"Ehhhh…"

"Sh-shut up!"

"I didn't say anything."

"I know you were criticizing me in your head. Don't bother denying it."

"Hey hey." Natsu raised his hands out in defense. "Don't make false accusations. I was just thinking that this was an interesting job of yours. Unlike what I do."

Lucy narrowed one eye. "What is it that you do anyway?"

"Mira didn't say?"

"The conversation was so very one-sided and over so fast I hadn't even had time to process what she _did_ say."

Natsu barked out a chuckle and go to his feet, the blonde's gaze rising with his as he stood up. "Sounds like her. Anyway, what are you so stressed about now? You looked like you were concentrating really hard just now."

"No thanks to you and your inane questions." Lucy grumbled. "Anyway, you haven't answered my question yet. What is it you do?"

"Oh, just a little something from time to time." The male shrugged. "You're busy with a deadline? Anything I can help you with?"

"Helpful? You? This whole time you've been nothing but a bother and now you think you ca- Wait, hold on."

Lucy closed the distance between them with a few terse steps and grabbed his jacket lapel with both hands. Ignoring the shocked look on the male's face, she immediately proceeded to pull the jacket off his shoulders and tug the sleeves from his arms.

"H-hey! What the hell are you doing?" Natsu's entire body tensed as he made a grab for her wrists to try to stop her but before he knew it, his expensive leather jacket was lying on the floor among her trashed drawings.

"Oi, you! That's expensive!"

"Shush. You wanted to be helpful, right?"

Lucy frowned as she took a few steps back and studied him under furrowed brows. She crossed one arms under her breasts and held her other hand up to her mouth, curling her fingers under her chin. Natsu stood there rooted to the spot, his own brows shot down in confusion, as he watched her study him.

Lucy's artist's eye quickly took in the firm body shape he had going on, a broad chest tapering to a narrow waist, with a pair of long, strong looking legs. His navy shirt was thin cotton and her keen sight could pick up dark shadows defining the planes of his chest; no doubt he had a perfect 6-pack hidden underneath.

"Your shoulders aren't as broad as I hoped…" She murmured as she continued to rake her gaze over his body up and down.

Instantly, the male scowled. "Yeah well, sorry I don't look like Mira's hulking ape of a brother… and what the hell are you doing blondie? You're making me feel very uncomfortable."

That seemed to snap the blonde out of her daze as she brought her gaze back up to his face. "Oh, sorry. Ok, uhm… Can you remove that scarf of yours?"

"Huh? Why should I-"

"Just do it." Lucy snapped, impatient.

"Jeez, what the hell is wrong with you…?" Natsu grumbled as he unfurled the strip of white cloth from his neck and draped it over his arm in neat folds. He cursed when the blonde suddenly stretched out and grabbed it from him.

"Hey, be careful with that! That's my favourite scarf."

"Oh hush, I won't tear it." Lucy laid the white cloth gently down onto the nearby couch. "There, happy?"

The male merely scowled.

"Right then. Uh… turn around."

"Huh?"

"Stop asking so many questions and just do it."

"You're very bossy, do you know that?"

"Yes, yes. Ok, now back facing me… Oh, very good."

Natsu peered behind him to eye her suspiciously. "Are you checking out my ass?"

"Hmm… Sorry, what did you say? I was studying your butt."

The direct reply seemed to take the male by surprise and he quickly turned back around to face the front instead, although Lucy could make out what sounded like "crazy woman" being mumble out. She could hardly take offense though; standing before her, his leg fidgeting from agitation, was what looked like the perfect male specimen!

Just what she was looking for. Her latest frontispiece commission was for a book that featured a Victorian heroine finding her soul mate in the budding soldier of a neighbour who had long carried a torch for her. She needed to come up with a male hero who was well-built but not buff, muscular but not hulking, with still the right amount of muscle and height to him to make readers swoon. After having drawn Schwarzenegger-like heroes for so long, she had forgotten how to draw men built on leaner lines but now… yes! This was perfect. _He_ was perfect.

"Uh… blondie...?"

Natsu was getting scared now. Standing there minus his precious scarf in the house of a female he barely knew was something he was used to. After he turned back around, he had been horrified to see the blonde staring at him with a calculating gaze in her widened eyes. To make it worse, she was now chuckling some kind of evil, maniacal laugh under her breath.

Natsu Dragneel, 26 and one of the youngest, most powerful men in the entire city of Magnolia, was now feeling an honest-to-God fear of this svelte blonde woman. He shifted his feet towards the open door, pointing at the hallway.

"Uhm… I think I should uh… go now so that you can… uh… conc-"

"Fantastic! I've decided!"

"Eep!"

"You wanted to be helpful right? We'll start now then and… did you just… eep?"

"Uh… no? Hahaha… Why would I do that? Uh… Yeah, helpful? Me?" The male took a tiny step back, his left eye twitching as he drew up a mental route to the main door from where he stood, though that thought quickly vanished when the craz- blonde suddenly grabbed him by his upper arms, holding him to the spot.

"Great. Now strip."

* * *

I'll try to keep chapters around 2k. Hopefully that'll speed up updates. Meh.

Faie.


	3. Face

Face

"Say what now?"

"I said 'strip'. Sorry, are your ears not working right?"

Natsu scowled as he took a step backward from what he was beginning to think was one blonde high on substance, cursing their mutual meddling friend's ways in his mind.

"I heard you fine. I'm just now sure why I have to-"

"Oh don't be a wuss. Here, give me your arms."

"Hey! Excu- what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"It's because you're so slow!" Lucy snapped as she grabbed the ends of his thin shirt and tugged it upwards unceremoniously. Natsu instantly straightened his arms skyward if only to prevent her from ripping his tee. Good quality cotton was hard to come by these days.

"In any case, why the hell do I have to strip for you?!" The male snapped as he snatched his shirt back from between the blonde's fingers. The female didn't reply, but instead took a few steps back and gave his torso a calculating stare, her gaze bearing into his now bare chest.

An awkward self-consciousness came over him and the male scratched the side of his jaw, his fingers picking up the faint roughness of stubble.

"Hey! Don't move!"

"Wh- Oi!" Natsu yelled out when the crazy blonde lady suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, pushing it back to his side and holding it there.

"Shush. I'm trying to come up with a design in my head, so stay still."

"I-mmph!" Onyx eyes narrowed downwards as the blonde rudely stuck one finger against his lip, effectively cutting him off as she continued to watch him steadily.

Much to Lucy's relief, the uncooperative male soon got the hang of staying still and stopped making fighting back, save for the occasional grumble and insult mumbled low under his breath, though she barely registered them in her mind. Her mental gears were working overtime now. Faced with a fresh new subject, her imagination was overflowing with various new scenes and positions that oscillated between the sweet and the scandalous.

She could barely rein in her growing excitement, as her gaze trailed down the smooth contours of the male's skin, pausing for a few deliberate moments at the shadowy corners masked by his limbs as her mind instinctively filled in the missing parts as it was now wont to do.

Her new guinea p- ahem- subject had evenly tanned skin that faded a few shades before disappearing under the snug fitting denim hugging his waist. There was a faint smattering of dark coloured hair starting beneath his navel that trailed downwards between the V of his hips but as a professional, Lucy did not let her mind wander. Instead, she brought her gaze up again along the other side of his torso, mentally gleeful when she noted the evenness of his abs.

Having used Elfman-like models for so long now, she had long missed drawing the toned, swimmer-like builds of men built on leaner lines. It was proving to be a downright challenge already, she thought, as she circled the scowling male slowly. His muscles and pecs arched much less than what she was used to and his torso was much narrower even at its widest. Lucy experimentally poked a finger in between his shoulder blades, and scrutinized the way his entire body instantly tensed and the back muscles flexed, producing new contours and shadows were there once was only light.

"Oi, blondie! I would appreciate if you don'-"

Natsu growled as he looked behind him, only for his voice to trail off when he caught sight of the expression of deep concentration on her face. A sudden discomfort filled him at the thought of disturbing her though he quickly shook that off as hunger pangs.

Her brows, both a brilliant shade of blonde that glimmered under the light were narrowed, pulling along with them the skin of her forehead which scrunched up in the middle. A pair of large amber eyes seemed to be trained on a certain part of his back, though what there was to be fascinated about for so long, Natsu had no idea.

The blonde was chewing down on her lower lip, and while one arm was folded under her chest, the other was actively moving, her fingers wrapped around an invisible pencil and her wrist flicked and swished back and forth, as though she was drawing on a canvas only she could see. The movements were mildly… entrancing and the male found himself staring for an unnecessarily long time before he managed to tear his gaze away only to now find his gaze focused on her chest. As his eyes took in the way her large shirt was pulled tight over her chest by her tucked arm, Natsu felt the heat of embarrassment creep up his chest and neck and he quickly whipped his head back to the front.

God damn it, did the blasted woman have to have such large breasts? Even her baggy, homely shirt had made her look almost… sexy. Couple that with the way she had been biting down on her lip, which so happened to be one of the things he liked best on a woman, and he was on the highway to crazy blonde hell.

He shook his head furiously, only to jolt when he felt a vice like grip clamp down on his head. Straining to turn his head around, Natsu gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Blondie… what the hell…?"

"I told you to stop moving! Really, are you deaf or something? God…"

"… Bitch."

"Yes yes. Now shut up and stay still. I'm not done with you yet… deaf idiot."

By the time his teeth had unclenched, whatever heat he had been feeling for this blonde had chilled to fury and Natsu instantly locked on to that new feeling, determined to maintain it for the rest of the night. On the far wall, the clock ticked just past 8, and the male groaned inwardly at how time seemed to be against him tonight.

As Lucy stepped back, a genuine smile spread her lips for the first time that day as she gave a mental double fist pump, and her eyes sparkled with delight. Dashing past a surprised male, she hurried to her work desk and plopped herself down onto her chair. Her fingers quickly closed themselves around a thin charcoal pencil. The next moment saw her hand flying back and forth across a clean piece of paper, and the once clean sheet of white was rapidly smeared over with lines and smudges of black and greys.

Noticing that the blonde was no longer hovering over him, Natsu's annoyance was quickly transformed into curiosity and he took a cautious step forward to her. To his surprise, no bark of irritation burst out from the blonde's lusc- ahem- bossy mouth and he slowly creeped closer towards where Lucy was seated. Muttering a terse "excuse me" under his breath, he then paused, awaiting a sign of acknowledgment but none came. Instead, the blonde merely continued to ignore him as she pored over her work. Taking that as a green light, Natsu leaned carefully over her shoulder, and as his gaze raked over the images that were slowly forming on the page, he could not help but let out a surprised "Hmm."

Lucy whipped her head around immediately, her brows creasing when she noticed how close he was to her.

"… What?"

"Nothing. Continue."

To his annoyance, her hand refused to budge.

"Obviously, you had a comment. What is it?"

"Nothing. Honest."

Lucy turned back to her drawing only to tilt her head slightly in his direction moments later to cast him a sidelong glance.

"Is there something wrong with the scene?"

"I didn't say that. Geez blondie, stop being so suspicious over any noncommittal sound."

"…Hmph."

Natsu made a mental note to seal his lips after she finally resumed her work. Instead he settled for standing to a side, looking casually bored while occasionally sneaking a glance at her progress. Her progress had slowed over time as compared to when she had first started. despite his amateur artist's eye, he could make out the shapes of two human figures, one male and one female standing next to each other. The male stood in profile, looking off into the far distance with his back ramrod straight with determination. The female stood facing the front, her body also straight but her head had a distinct tilt to it in the direction of her male companion. Between them, two arms hung in a V with their hands clasped together gently. While their faces had not yet been drawn in, Natsu could already guess that this frontispiece was going to bear a solemn theme.

Indeed, the initial joy that had been on her face was now gone. In its place were sobriety and a tinge of genuine sadness in her eyes as her fingers carefully etched in the details on the female's sleeves. Before he could stop himself, Natsu found himself laying a hand on her shoulder.

"You ok?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." Lucy mumbled as she put her pencil down and rubbed circles over her temple. "It's just that sometimes I tend to immerse myself into the story too much when I draw that I get overemotional."

He didn't know how to reply to that so he simply patted her shoulder softly before drawing his hand back to his side.

A half hour passed before Lucy finally looked up from her drawing to glance at the clock. It was a full half hour past 9 now. Time really flew whenever she truly immersed herself in her work. The design was halfway to completion now; all that was left was to tidy up the lines and fill in colour. Just in time for her deadline submission in three days time. As was her usual practice, Lucy pushed back from her work desk and rose from her seat to get herself a snack when she suddenly squealed in surprise.

"What the-?"

Natsu dropped his mobile when the blonde suddenly turned and bumped right into him, knocking him backwards onto his ass. There was a loud thudding noise as flesh and wall made contact and Natsu's eyes snapped shut in pain.

"Ow, my head!"

Lucy leaped to her feet in a flurry, her eyes instantly taking in sight of the male recumbent beneath her, his hand clutched around the back of his head.

"Ohmigosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there. Are- are you alright?"

"Didn't- how on Earthland do you not see an entire person, blondie?" The male groaned as he climbed to his feet.

"S-sorry. Here. Let, uh, let me."

Gingerly, Lucy touched her fingers to the back of the male's head. The instant their skin made contact she felt him tense under her touch though he didn't not make any sound of protest. Taking that as a green light, Lucy gently traced her fingers along the skin where she could already feel a tiny bump beginning to swell. In spite of herself, she found herself holding her hand there for longer than was unnecessary but the blonde found herself fascinated by the soft, silkiness of the hair between her fingers.

As she leaned around the male's head, her gaze focused on the strands playfully curling themselves around her digits. With hair as spiky as his, she would have thought the strands coarse and dry from copious applications of gel. Instead, they had the texture of newborn's first hair. Before she could lean in to satisfy her curiosity if they indeed smelled like a baby's too, Lucy squealed when the male suddenly pushed past her, leaving her hands bereft.

She looked up at the male who was now standing a few meters away. He was wearing an odd expression on his face, though at that angle, she could not decipher it for certain. She jumped when he suddenly spoke, his voice oddly coarse.

"So we're done then?"

"Huh?"

"The drawing thing." Natsu turned to glare at her as he snapped out. "You're done now?"

"Uh… yeah. I think so. Just have to tidy it up a bit before I can put colour down."

"Hmph. Let me see." Without waiting for her reply, he reached out and picked up her sketchpad.

"Hey! Wait a moment! I didn't-!"

"…Not bad."

Lucy's mouth clamped shut when she saw him nod. There was an approving light in his eyes, and for some reason, it shocked the hell out of her.

"I didn't know I look so good underneath." The male chuckled arrogantly as he lightly traced the outlines of the male figure drawing, only to have the blonde smack his hand away.

"Don't smudge it!"

Lucy watched him study her sketch and as the seconds ticked by, she found that she was actually anticipating his reply. Weird.

She saw his gaze zero in onto the face of the male and his eyebrows suddenly shot down. She wondered if he had been shocked at her level of prowess in realistic detail. After all, she herself was feeling mighty impressed by herself tonight.

What she had not expected was for the male to suddenly whirl around and grab her wrist roughly. She reacted instantly, squirming and tugging against his grip but his hand was like a manacle – unrelenting – as his onyx eyes narrowed at her, fury burning deep in its depths.

"Let go, Draguniro." She gritted out through clenched teeth, refusing to let herself raise her voice at this jerk of a male.

"What the hell is ice- Gray Fullbuster's face doing here?!"


End file.
